Blog of the teachers and students at Bilingual IES Clara Campoamor

Amundsen and the South Pole feat

100 years ago, 14th December 1911, Norwegian Amundsen reached the South Pole in a race again Captain Scott. He became famous while Scott died in the attempt. The South Pole was the last frontier to cross and it was extremely attractive to all kinds of explorers. Norway has celebrated the feat sending its Prime Minister to the geographical South Pole.Why is he so famous? I think that he is famous because he performed an incredible feat and he showed courage, determination and endurance. He had tried to reach the North Pole first but when two Americans claimed that they had been the first to arrive at the North Pole, he decided to turn his attention towards the South and organised an expedition in a ship, the Fram.

Amundsen and his team arrived in Antarctica (Bay of Whales) on 14th January 1911. They spent the harsh Antarctic winter and then, they tried to get to the South Pole. After an unsuccessful attempt, Amundsen and four other men (Olav Olavson Bjaaland, Hilmer Hanssen, Sverre H. Hassel, and Oscar Wisting) together with a sledge pulled by 13 dogs arrived there at 3 p.m.

Afterwards, Amundsen continued his explorations in the Arctic. He was very interested in flying and airship travel. He disappeared with no trace in 1928 while searching for the survivors of an airship crash in the Arctic.

Here you have access to some interesting pictures of the Amundsen expedition.

There is also a very interesting man whose story I will write soon of: Sir Ernest Shackleton. He also tried to conquer the South Pole but failed three times. Do you want to know why he is a hero and became famous too?